Interrelationship of Agricultural and General Economic Policies

Abstract

It has been fundamental to the objective of the studies reported in this volume that agricultural policy should be seen, not in isolation as a set of farm prices and marketing measures, but in the context of economic policy as a whole. Clearly, in any analysis of agricultural policy the effect on the output and income of the farm sector must be fully explored, as must the implications for food supplies and the consequent trade balance. Similarly the method of financing farm support has to be examined with its associated implications for income distribution. These were the topics of the empirical chapters in Part II. But a complete view requires the result of these investigations to be put in a wider perspective. In Part I, particularly in Chapter 1, a number of questions were raised regarding the place of agriculture in the political and economic decisions facing governments in the industrialised democracies. This chapter seeks to answer some of those questions from the standpoint of the United Kingdom. Since the solution to problems often requires international consultation and action, the discussion ranges over a wider field than specifically British concerns, so that the proposals in the concluding chapter in Part III should be of general interest.